The Human Brain

With astonishing efficiency, the brain decodes the streams of signals pouring in through the nerves from the sense organs. Moreover, it links these signals with details stored in its memory. Thus, a certain smell may immediately trigger the brain to retrieve a long-forgotten experience or event. And if you see just a small part of something familiar​—the tip of your cat’s tail, for example—​your brain will fill in the missing details so that you know your cat is nearby.

Of course, your brain was not preprogrammed with images of cats, just as it was not preprogrammed with the smell of a rose or the sound of running water or the feel of fur. Your brain learned these associations.

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YOUR AMAZING BRAIN

How does your brain feel, hear, see, and smell? Scientists are baffled. “There is no hint in your brain as to how you see the words you are now reading,” said scientist Gerald L. Schroeder.

He also wrote: “Revelation of the previously unimagined intricate workings of the brain has challenged the simplistic theory of life’s random evolution.” He continued: “Had Darwin known of the wisdom hidden within life, I have confidence that he would have proposed a very different theory.”